Downingtown to reestablish historic, park commissions

By
Ginger Dunbar, Daily Local News

Sunday, July 6, 2014

DOWNINGTOWN — Borough council members announced plans Wednesday to establish a historical commission and a park and recreation commission next month to replace the Historical and Parks Commission that was disbanded earlier this year.

Council members Nick Winkler and Patricia McGlone collaborated during the past few months to outline the responsibilities of each commission.

Winkler said that he has supported separating the commission into two committees since the former commission had “two very distinct aspects and important focuses.” He said he wanted to “enhance the incredible parks system that we have in the borough.”

Winkler previously submitted resolutions to split the commission into two committees, but they were voted down.

According to the draft document, the purpose of the historical commission is to “assist in the development and maintenance of the historic properties in the borough, particularly those properties owned by the borough.”

Additional duties include recording the history of the borough, maintaining an archive of borough-related historic documents, photographs, artifacts, memorabilia and more. Commissioners will be able to make recommendations to council to preserve the “historic integrity” of the community, as well as to maintain historic structures including the Log House Cabin and the Roger Hunt Mill property.

Following the meeting, Winkler said that his “aim was to make sure we did not lose any elements of preserving our historical elements, and we focused on enhancing our park system.” He said he and McGlone were able to present a proposal that will “truly strengthen the overall mission.”

The historical commission will have three members, in addition to one council member who will act as a liaison to the borough council and not vote with the commission.

The park and recreation commission will have five members, which will include two council members who can vote.

McGlone said that volunteers can serve on the commissions, but they will not be able to vote.

Councilwoman Ann Feldman, who served as the council liaison to the Historical and Parks Commission until it was disbanded, suggested that they have a range of three to nine historical commissioners. She said that she would like to have more volunteers be commissioners to have more “flexibility in the future.”

“You want to make it available so that you have more people as commissioners,” Feldman said.

She said that not all of the seats need to be filled. The former historical commission had five vacancies on the 11-member board. She suggested that at least three commissioners should be borough residents, while non-residents could be volunteers. As written in the document, three commissioners serving can reside outside of the borough.

Council President Anthony “Chip” Gazzerro asked the other council members for their opinion. The majority said to keep the number of commissioners as proposed.

Feldman asked council to consider changing the name of “historic commission” to “historical commission.” Winkler, who changed the name, consented to the request.

McGlone expressed interested in helping with the park and recreation commission. She said that Dague is interested in helping with the historical commission. Gazzerro said that council will discuss that during their August 6 meeting, when they plan to approve of the commissions.

“I was very pleased that we were able to work together to get this done,” McGlone said after the meeting. She said that she and Winkler had “strong feelings” about recreating the duties for two separate commissions.

Borough Manager Steve Sullins said that they will have to create the proposal of the commissions as a borough ordinance. Council voted 5-1 to advertise the ordinances with the intention to adopt them. Feldman dissented.

Gazzerro thanked McGlone and Winkler for their efforts.

“Initially when this came up, we said we’re going to separate and redo it. And that’s what we’re doing,” Gazzerro said. “You guys did a great job.”

Council voted 4-2 on Feb. 5 to disband the Historical and Parks Commission with Feldman and Winkler dissenting. Before the vote, Winkler said he opposed as he wanted a plan in place before disbanding the commission. Feldman questioned the reasons for disbanding a volunteer commission that she said has members who make money for the borough.

Patricia Harootunian, who served as the commission’s chairwoman, said that the commission raised $8,000 to $10,000 yearly from its events during the past five years.

The former commissioners fundraised and still plan to have civil war cannon refurbished for a memorial in Kerr Park by Memorial Day 2015.

She said that they volunteered because they were passionate about presenting fun community activities.

“In return for our passion we were disbanded without comment or cause,” Harootunian said during an interview in January.

Following the vote to disband the commission, Gazzerro said that it would be easier to disband the commission before creating a new committee or commission.

“After the surprise move to abolish the previous commission, I decided that it was time to resubmit my plan that I had written before taking office in 2011,” Winkler said.

When the discussion to disband the commission began in January, Gazzerro said at that time that services and events would continue as normal with the help of borough staff members.

Sullins provided a statement to the Daily Local News in January on the behalf of council members who favored to disband the commission. In part it said that “in-house staff can faster approve, oversee and facilitate activities in our parks. We believe this restructuring will better allow residents to more easily plan, get approved and participate in our park system.”

“Having new volunteers in addition to long-time volunteers with an expertise in this area, we will be able to do more succinct job helping to oversee the design of our downtown in our Historical Downtown District,” according to council’s statement.

The statement says that the borough has had hard-working volunteers doing the tasks of two committees, and there is an increased need for a commission to “focus solely on historical preservation.”